Two players from Alabama high schools returned to the NFL on Wednesday with defensive lineman Nick Williams joining the San Francisco 49ers and cornerback Zyon Gilbert joining the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Williams played one season at football at Minor High School in Adamsville before becoming an All-Southern Conference selection at Samford.
A second-team All-State selection in 2015 and first-team All-State selection in 2016 at Jeff Davis (now J.A.G.) High School in Montgomery, Gilbert went on to play at Florida Atlantic.
Williams entered the NFL as a seventh-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2013 NFL Draft, and he returns for an 11th year in the league after the 49ers lost defensive lineman Kalia Davis to a knee injury.
Gilbert started training camp with the Green Bay Packers, but he had been waived on July 30. The Steelers signed Gilbert after placing cornerback Kalon Barnes on injured reserve on Tuesday.
Williams played in 14 games, with six starts, for the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2023 season, and he had been a free agent since March 13.
Gilbert sustained a hamstring injury during the preseason last year, and the New York Giants waived him from injured reserve on Aug. 31. Gilbert signed with the Packers’ practice squad on Oct. 25, but he did not appear in a regular-season game last season. Gilbert re-signed with Green Bay on Jan. 22.
The Steelers will play their second preseason game at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. NFL Network will televise the game.
The 49ers face the New Orleans Saints in a preseason contest at 7 p.m. CDT Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
-1723476035-q80.webp "Knicks’ star forward takes shot at Team USA gold medalist’s social media celebration")
